Title: Twas The Night Before…
Author: ken_r AKA Ken242 AKA Kenneth Renouard
Rating: Mature maybe a bit adult.
Genera: CC.
Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters or the history behind the story.
Summary: Canon except for the road trip and the military at graduation. Max has to face a lot of demons in his mind.

Author’s note: I don’t remember when I wrote this. It must be my story because I labeled it as such. I don’t remember my intentions, but when I polished it up, I think I am close.

Twas The Night Before…

Max got as far as stripping down to his boxers. He didn’t even get out a tee shirt to wear as a pajama top. All week, he had been moving furniture, files and books to his new house. His joints were sore, his muscles were sore and he had a splitting headache. The bed he flopped into was not the twin bed of his boyhood nor, the cot of his college dorm. For the first time in his life, Max had a real king sized bed with a mattress system that was fully adjustable. That didn’t make much difference tonight as he crawled into the full sized bed for the first time, he could have slept on the floor, as tired as he was. Unfortunately, it was one of those nights when no matter how fatigued he felt, sleep escaped him.

Looking at the digital alarm beside his bed, Max saw 10:00 then 10:30, 11:15 and so forth. Max guessed he dozed between his lucid seconds, looking at the clock. The times changed and Max had no sense of lying there in between times. Midnight, damn, he had to be in good shape tomorrow. Somehow, he had to get some sleep. 12:30, 12:45 and then 13:00, that really shook Max up. Yes, if the clock was set on military time, there was a 1300, but that would be in the afternoon, not the middle of the night. As far as he knew this cheap alarm clock didn’t have any such thing as military time.

Max felt cold. When he fell into his bed the evening had been hot. He hadn’t even pulled up a sheet for cover. The damned weather in New Mexico; it could be over 100 in the day and below freezing the next night. Max swung his legs off the bed and sitting up, he discovered two other things. The bed he had spent over a week’s salary on was no longer soft. It was as hard as a rock. It was also, as cold as a rock. The other thing was that he no longer wore his boxers. His bare ass was placed on the cold hard stone of reality. Of his expensive bed, there was no sign. Looking back to the alarm clock he saw that it was now 13:01. Max started to reach over to turn on the switch for his bed light and he saw it was no longer there on the table. The alarm clock was all there was of his former bedroom. Max’s new house usually had the normal number of tattle tale lights saying the TV was off, The burglar alarm was set, the Blueray player was off, but as he was looking around, he saw that it wasn’t as dark as he had first thought. His bedroom seemed to be a lot bigger; in fact as he looked, he couldn’t see the far wall. His entire house had disappeared. There was a breeze which he hadn’t noticed before. Had he left a window opened somewhere? Max couldn’t figure where the breeze was coming from. That was faulty reasoning as where was his whole house? This should have been his question.

Way, way, beyond what used to be his far wall, Max saw something moving. As he watched, he saw a figure emerge. It wasn’t an intruder, because as far as Max could tell, he wasn’t in his house any more. His boxers had disappeared, his bed had turned into a stone and his clock was giving invalid information. Now in his naked condition, he had to deal with some strangers.

Okay, now it looked like the person was some woman. Max’s luck was all shot to shit. Here he was in some strange place, naked as a jaybird and fixing to entertain some lady. Things just kept getting worse. As she developed out of the shadows, Max saw that it was Maria, Liz’s best friend and a close friend of his, also.

“Maria, stop, I am not dressed,” he called out.

Yes, it was Maria. You could hear her laugh a mile away. “That’s okay, Max. After seeing Michael’s hairy butt going up and down, I don’t think you have anything that I haven’t seen before.”

Maria sat down beside him on the rock that used to be his expensive bed. She put her arm around his shoulders. He could feel her warm fingers on his cold flesh. Looking down at his lap, she caused him even more embarrassment. “Oh, Max, don’t bother yourself because of me. Remember we are girl friends. Speaking of that, Max how come you never made a pass at me?” she asked.

“Maria,” Max exclaimed. “You are Liz’s best friend and you are Michael’s girl.”

“Yeah there is that now, but remember when Liz took off to Florida and Michael was busy being a stone wall? We could have consoled each other. Nobody else was doing anything for us,” Maria declared.

“Maria, believe me, all I ever wanted was Liz Parker. Look, if we had been together, that might have gotten in the way of you and Michael later,” Max explained.

“Max, a lot of things have gotten between me and Michael through our youth. First, he made trips to Courtney to see how her skin fit. She may have been an alien ‘Skin,’ but she had the hots for Michael and I am sure at that age, he didn’t waste time just looking at her skin. Then Michael was angry about Billy. My mother being out of town that week, made sucking face with Billy get a lot more interesting. There were some fun times for Billy and me. We had eighth grade dreams and almost grown up bodies to live them. We were both scared to do anything when we met at middle school music camp, but when he came by Roswell, it was a whole new ball game. I got romance from Billy where Michael was only dealing in lust at the time, Michael hadn’t got around to understanding what romance was. In between Liz running hot and cold and Michael not knowing what he wanted, we could have brought a lot of comfort to each other,” Maria related.

“Maria, Billy was a one time thing. You wouldn’t have wanted me to get in your way when you got back to Michael,” Max stated.

“Max, that time Michael got drunk and we went to that New Year’s party, I was hoping that we could at least take a tumble. All you could think of was Liz Parker, no matter what she said to you,” Maria said. “You didn’t notice, but I did step out of the light of the bonfire for a quickie or two. It was New Year’s and I wanted something to remember.”

“Yeah, and I did sleep with Tess,” Max stated. “That time it was her bare butt on the cold concrete.”

“Max! Didn’t you take a blanket or something?” Maria inquired.

“Yeah, Maria, I probably did carry a blanket. I am just so bitter about that. Tess could mind control everybody and when she did it to me, she got pregnant the first time,” Max angrily said.

“Oh, so it was all Tess’s fault. You stuck it to her and had no control what so ever,” Maria stated.

“You are right Maria, it wasn’t all her fault. I was angry, I was hurt and I was horny. That is what it took to make a baby. I have kicked myself so many times my butt is raw,” Max explained.

“You are right, Max, it was probably good that we remained good friends and didn’t take any advantages of each other.” Maria leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Then, she dropped her hand to his lap and tweaked his manhood.

“Maria, what are you doing?” Max asked.

“Nothing, Max, I needed to talk to you and this would be the last time I could do it. I wanted to see if I could get a rise from you. Max, you are more human than you thought,” Maria said as she stood up and seemed to fade away.

Max shook his head. At least he wished he had had his boxers between himself and the world. Max looked at the time and it said 13:05. The clock was still messed up. The entire conversation with Maria had taken five minutes of “dream time.”

Again a movement was seen in the far distance. Aw shit, Max thought is this going to be Dickens Christmas Carol without Christmas, over and over again? Once again as Max watched, he saw the faint shape evolve into the figure of a woman. Max felt like a man who had slipped out the front door without his pants to grab the paper and inadvertently set off the burglar alarm alerting all his neighbors to come out and look at him.
“See your neighbor, see your friend as no one else has, even his girl friend.”

As Max saw who it was, he became determined. He was going to put his bare foot down, “Isabel, I don’t have any clothes on. Don’t come any closer,” he shouted.

“Aw, Max, remember I grew up with you. I am your sister and have no designs on your virtue. I want to say a few things and this is the only time I can do it,” Isabel said as she continued her approach.

As he didn’t seem to be able to stop her, Max tried to sit where as little of him was exposed as possible. “I guess this is look at Max day,” he moaned.

Isabel sat beside him. “Max, remember I am married. You don’t have anything that I haven’t seen before. Although, compared to Jesse’s golden body, you do sort of look a bit like a dead fish. Max, don’t you ever get any sun?” she asked.

“Izzy, it was a lot easier when we were children. When we fist came to Roswell, our parents may have put us together in the shower. As an adult, I am very uncomfortable sitting out in the open naked with my sister. Even as she insults me,” Max complained.

Isabel laughed. “Max I can’t have this conversation with Jesse. You are the only one I can tell and after tonight I probably can’t come to you anymore. Max, you slept with Tess. Is that going to bother you in the future?” she asked.

“Isabel, this conversation is difficult to have with my sister, but to answer your question, Liz knows all about Tess and she seems willing to put it into our past,” Max explained.

He noticed that Isabel was studying her own hands and not looking at him at all. “You know I teased Alex unmercifully. I turned him down for a date and then went out with that Grant fellow. If I had followed through with Grant, I am sure I would have ended up in his sleeping bag. It took me almost two years to see what Alex could have meant to me. I had to beg him to take me to the prom. I was getting ready to ask him to my bed when he was killed. When I met Jesse, I was so determined to not let him go. I didn’t want to loose twice. But, I think that Jesse knows that every time we make love, Alex is somewhere close. Jesse has been really nice about it, but I worry that my guilt might someday get between Jesse and me,” Isabel confessed.

“Izzy, Alex was a good boy and Jesse is a good man. You just had to grow up to see their meaning in your life. Jesse knows who and what you are and if he continues to accept that, I don’t think you need have any fears,” Max told her.

“Thank you Max, I give you my best wishes also,” Isabel stood and Max couldn’t help but to flinch away from her. He needn’t have worried as she just patted him on his bare shoulder. At least Izzy hadn’t been as wanton as Maria. Her parting comment was, “Even as you slept with Tess, you never gave up on Liz Parker, did you?”

Isabel left and Max looked at his alarm clock. It read 13:10. Wherever he was, time was surely screwed up. Max had talked to a friend, a girl whom he couldn’t remember ever having any romantic feelings about. Well there had been that time when he passed the room where the girls dressed for work at the Crashdown. The door hadn’t been completely closed and Max did remember seeing Maria’s bikini panties as she was trying to slip the uniform over her head. He did feel a twinge in his groin, but that was only teenage hormones. Then, why did his sister come by? This was all done in ten minutes of dreamtime. Yes, he had felt badly how she had treated Alex. But, far be it for Max to criticize Isabel’s love life. Alex was Liz and Maria’s best friend. Max had thought that when Alex was killed, Isabel shouldn’t have opened herself to anyone new. What did he mean by that? Maybe, he wanted her to grieve a little longer. He certainly couldn’t want his sister to never have love and family. Was her unburdening her guilt on him some sort of penance? Was that what Max was to his sister? Did he stand as someone who would always give her unconditional, brotherly love no matter what she did?

Max wondered who else would come by?

Max looked again at the clock. It was now 13:15. Another visitor was approaching. Max couldn’t believe it. It was Alex. “Alex, I don’t have any clothes,” Max called.

Alex looked a little sad. “Yeah, and I don’t have any life. Does that make us even?” Alex asked.

Max noticed that Alex didn’t look at his body. Alex either looked Max in the eye or he turned away. “Naked guys were never my thing. That is why I hated Physical education so much. The locker room talk, the demeaning jokes, they never were for me,” Alex stated.

“Alex, you are dead. What are you doing here?” Max asked.

“They tell us we don’t have those emotions anymore. Fear, love, hate pride, those are all for the living. Some of this, I agree with. I see Tess many times, we don’t sit down and talk to each other, but I don’t hate her, like I imagined I would. It is the love that troubles me. I watch Isabel and see her with Jesse. Then, I think that it could have been me who was holding her. I know I am not supposed to, but I do feel troubled. The only love I will ever know is watching Izzy start a family. I hope I can still be here when her little ones grow up,” Alex declared.

“I think Izzy knows you are around. Just be careful to not make it hard for her to love Jesse. She feels a lot of guilt,” Max stated.

“I know and I am sorry. I never meant to cause Isabel any guilt,” Alex said sadly. Then, Alex looked up and stared Max in the eyes. “Max, you slept with Tess. I don’t have any feelings for myself, but what does that do to you and Liz? Maria and Liz are two girls I will have strong feelings for.”

“We are working through it. I committed an act of love without any real love and that has consequences. I created a child without any love. I can’t blame Tess or anyone else. It was my choice that night and I made a bad decision. It hurt people and I have to live with that. Maybe, if I hadn’t gotten her pregnant, she wouldn’t have gone after you. So, you even have a right to be angry with me. All I can say is I am sorry,” Max declared.

“Don’t worry for me, Max. That isn’t one of the things that I can feel. I loved, Isabel. I loved her with my heart and my lust. I also love two other girls. That love was different. Liz and Maria were very special to me. Please don’t bring any grief to either of them.

Max wondered did Alex as a spirit hear the conversation between himself and Maria? This has to be a dream so does one part of my dream, listen in on the other parts of my dream in between acts of some great drama? Max didn’t have an answer. He did know that his dreams needed very careful shepherding. Alex slowly drifted away. Alex seemed reluctant to leave. Maybe he didn’t get much chance to talk to the living. Max tried not to hurry him. Alex had been a good friend.

The clock read 13:20. Max had to stand. If no one else was coming along, he needed to stretch and rest his butt. That rock he was sitting on was hard as well as cold. Max tried to see in the distance. There, almost invisible was another visitor. Max saw her merge into the form of a woman, three women so far and Max still without a stitch of clothes.

Tess approached hesitantly. Where she was from, grudges and hatreds didn’t happen. Now, she was approaching the living for the first time. She had seen Alex do it, but everyone loved Alex. She had seen, once before, when she was alive, that there was a lot of hatred with respect to her. Now she was dead and the things she did leading up to this death had caused a lot of pain to the living. Funny, Max and Liz were the ones she hurt the most, except for Alex. They bore her the least resentment. Of course, Maria and Isabel were angry about the death of Alex. Kyle was her biggest surprise. He was bitter towards her. Kyle had been in love with her. She had ignored that love for a supposed destiny. Her question now, was how Max felt about her. “Stop, Tess. I am not wearing any clothes,” Max called out to her.

That was funny. All her other worries and Max was embarrassed because he didn’t have on any clothes. “Max, we made love one night. That ought to give me a little license to be around you naked,” she answered.

Tess sat down beside Max. She noticed that he kept his legs close together and held his hands in his lap. “Max, you made love to me on the concrete. I hope you are going to do better than that for your Liz. This is very hard rock,” she commented.

“I have a bed somewhere. I even have a house, somewhere. Things are rather strange tonight,” Max stated.

“Max, Max, so you are really going to go through it with Liz?” Tess asked.

“We are hoping to. I have to find my way out of here and get back to my house,” Max answered.

“We could have had it all, if I had found you before you met Liz,” Tess said.

“Maybe, but would we have been happy?” Max asked.

“I don’t know. Nasedo always said take what you want and don’t let anyone get in your way. I don’t know if that could have led to happiness. Nadeso didn’t have feelings for anything.”

“Was that your excuse?” Max asked.

Tess gave a little laugh. “No, Max, there was no excuse. I was flawed. That is one thing I have learned about being dead. A soul has responsibility for what they did in life. I chased a fairy tale when I could have had the real thing with another guy. Kyle really loved me. I could see what Kyle would be like by watching his dad. The Valentes were very loving people. I just chose to not see that. If I had of done it with Kyle, we would have been on a bed and he would have brought me chocolates and flowers afterwards. Maybe, I should talk to Alex. Killing him made me loose any chance with Kyle, as well as Alex losing any chance to be with Isabel. I was flawed, Max. That is all I can say,” Tess said.

Max noticed that if Tess saw anything about him being naked, she said nothing. She made no movement to tease him about his condition as Maria had done. Maybe, Tess was really repentant. Max could hope so. Max didn’t like to think badly of anybody. Tess finally disappeared and Max looked at the clock. It read 13:25.

The next visitor approached. Max called out, “Kyle, I don’t have any clothes on.”

Kyle gave a big laugh. “Hey Max, remember I am a jock. I am used to hairy butts and hairier peters, also. The only times that bothers me is when you see that the coach is taking too much joy at the sight. You know I can’t make it to your wedding. We are shipping out tonight. I don’t know where we are going.” Max knew that Kyle had joined the marines and was going somewhere.

“Yeah, I know Kyle, we appreciate the card and gift you sent,” Max answered.

“Well Max, I had the hots for your woman at one time. Seeing her with you makes me glad we never made it. You do know that the time you saw us in bed wasn’t real don’t you?” Kyle asked.

“Yes Kyle, and I probably don’t know any more than you, why she did that.” Max wanted to say something about Tess, but how do you say such things. Hey Kyle, the ghost of Tess says she misses you. No, that wouldn’t do. “Kyle, any women in your life?” Max finally asked. Immediately Max saw that he had made a mistake anyway. Kyle looked chest fallen.

“Naw, Max, I used to have a pretty healthy social life. Maybe, I don’t trust women anymore.”

Max thought strike one more up for Tess’s mistake. Max wondered was Kyle really dedicated to the marines or was he using them to run away?

Kyle was looking down at Max. “Well, good buddy, I hope you do better tomorrow than you are doing now. I am not sure if Liz can forgive you for showing up to your wedding naked and I am sure she won’t take it kindly to be offered a concrete block for her wedding bed.”

Kyle’s disappearance was so sudden, that Max wasn’t that sure he had been there. Had Isabel been giving lessons in dream walking or was this all in his head? Max knew that Isabel could appear very clearly in someone else’s dreams. Did any of these other have that same skill? Max didn’t think so. If this was dreams started by Isabel wouldn’t she have been the first person he would have seen? Max listed those who had visited him from 13:00 to the present time. Where was Liz? Didn’t she have a boat load of things to unload on him before their marriage? Then, where was Michael? Max couldn’t believe that Michael wouldn’t pass up a chance to unleash a bucket on Max. Michael was Max’s best friend, but he, also, believed it was his responsibility to keep Max in line.

It was now 13:35. Ten minutes had gone by. So far, every visitor had walked someway up to where Max sat. Now, Max noticed that he was moving. Not only was Max moving, but the concrete slab and the rocks around his location seemed to be transporting somewhere. Max finally made out a figure sitting at a table. At first the scene was familiar, but Max couldn’t figure it out, then Max saw that it was Jeff Parker sitting at a table in the back of the Crashdown. Usually when the crowds thinned out and there was a little down time in the kitchen, Jeff would take out all the cutlery and sharpen the knives at a table in the back of the Crashdown. The table was approaching and Jeff was approaching, but there was no sign of the restaurant.

“Max, Max, when you asked us for Liz’s hand in marriage, I expected a little more than you being stark naked and sitting on a concrete slab,” Jeff stated with a frown.

“Mr. Parker, this night has been…” Max started trying to explain himself.

“No, Max,” Jeff said. “You are taking away my baby daughter.”

“Mr. Parker, Liz isn’t a baby anymore. She is a grown woman. I would guess that we are about the same age you and Mrs. Parker were when you were married,” Max challenged.

“Max that is not much consolation,” Jeff returned. “Nancy and I have had some close calls in our marriage. It has been hard work and maybe, a lot of fate that has kept us together. Do you think you and Liz are up to these pressures?”

“We can only promise to do our best,” Max answered. “You want grand children. That is the promise that the world will continue. You, also, want Liz to have someone to grow old with. That is the promise Liz and I will make to each other.”

“See that you do, Max. See that you do,” Jeff replied as he began to fade away.

Max noticed that Jeff Parker began to recede down the road or whatever path it was things traveled to in this place.

Approaching him was a parked car or rather SUV. The SUV and the cowboy figure standing beside it were well known to Max. Even before Max could make out features, the sheriff was so well known to him that Max knew who to expect. The time was 13:40

Hey, Max, if old Kathleen Topolsky could see you now, she would have a difficult time calling you an alien. Boy, you are letting it all hang out. Ain’t nothing hidden about you this morning,” the sheriff called out.

By the time Max was taking Boy’s Physical Education and showering in the gym, he had decided that in someway he must be different than others. It was not proper to gaze long at the other boys, but Max was sure that they all were made and functioned just like he did.

“Kyle ships out later this morning. It is scary, him being in danger and all of that, but I think it will be good for the boy. He just never got used to the alien abyss. Maybe, this will give Kyle something else to think about,” the sheriff continued.

“Yeah, I hope so. I have a lot of amends to make to Kyle and I don’t know exactly how to do it,” Max replied.

Jim sadly shook his head. “Yeah, you aliens took a toll on the Valenti folks. My dad was so sure you were all monsters that he never saw you for what you really are. The only time we saw you for what you were was when we compared you to Everett Hubble. There was a true monster.”

Max noticed his vision of the sheriff was not that stable. The SUV, the sheriff and all that he could have said drifted down the path.

The time was 13:45. Two people seen in the distance were standing beside the path. The same necromancy slowly brought them to Max as it had done the others. “Well son, we see you as we did so many years ago. You were naked then and had nothing to hide as you are here,” Philip Evans stated.

“Max, we brought you up to be a good person, alien or human. Good doesn’t know the difference. You are going to step out on your own. That doesn’t mean that we won’t be standing somewhere to help you in need, but most of what you do from now on is on your shoulders. Max try not to let us down, but more than that don’t let those around you down, the ones who support you and depend on you,” Diane said.

Max heard a pounding on something. In the distance he saw Michael running like the hounds of hell were chasing him. “Max, Max, where in the hell are you?” Michael’s voice called out.

Max turned towards Michael and almost fell out of his expensive bed. “Just a minute, Max called out.” As Max stood up he could feel his boxers, but they were soaking wet. In fact, his whole body was dripping with sweat. Max stumbled out of the bedroom to his front door. He cracked it open a bit and was almost thrown off balance when Michael pushed his way in.

“Damn it, Max. Liz sent me over to make sure you weren’t late and Isabel sent me over to kick the shit out of you if you had some cockeyed idea of running off,” Michael shouted.

Max looked at his alarm clock. It read 8:00 AM. If any of the alarms had gone off, Max had slept right through them. “Gawd damn it, Max. It smells like a locker room in here. Don’t you ever take a bath?” Michael shouted, but in a slightly quieter tone.

“Lay off, Mike, I had a rough night. I’ll get a shower and be ready in a few minutes,” Max growled.

“Holy shit, Max,” Michael said as he walked to a window and opened it to air the place out. “You can’t bring Liz to a place smelling like this after your honeymoon. It will take Izzy and me a whole week to clean the place up. You got any air freshener around here?”

Max didn’t answer as he stepped into the shower. He had been wrung through the wringer last night. He guessed that last minute jitters, even though they were in his dreams, had worked their worst on him. No, he wasn’t going to be late for Liz and no, he wasn’t going to run away, despite Isabel’s lack of trust. He had to be at the church by 10:00 this morning. Max might have to hurry, but he could still make it on time.

Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.

Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-